Furnace Control Unit

ABSTRACT

The current invention is a furnace control unit that is affixed to a electronic on/off switch that controls a heating unit. The furnace control unit has a programmable processing unit, display unit, power source, input buttons, a switch flipping means. It is attached next to the electronic on/off switch that control a heating source. The unit would be programmed to turn the switch on or off depending on input criteria such as time of date and temperature.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

None.

STATEMENT AS TO RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE UNDER FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

None

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This device refers to the field of furnace control units in more particularity furnace control units that turn on and off a switch based on the temperature.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The smart use of energy and controlling energy costs are very important in this day and age. With energy cost more and more and with the use of fossil fuels there exists a need for devices and systems that can control heating to make sure that it is done efficiently while controlling wastefulness.

In 2000, 82 percent of homes used either utility gas or electricity as their primary source of heating fuel; utility gas alone accounted for about half of all homes (51 percent). Utility gas was clearly the dominant fuel in Utah, Illinois, Michigan, Colorado, and Kansas.

The percent of homes using fuel oil (including kerosene and other liquid fuels) has fluctuated from 1940 to 2000. That rate has increased each decade from 1940 (10 percent) to 1960 (32 percent). From that point, it declined each decade, to its lowest level of 9.0 percent in 2000. Fuel oil was tops in New England; for example in 2000, 80 percent of the homes in Maine used fuel oil, followed by Vermont (59 percent), New Hampshire (58 percent), and Connecticut (52 percent).

Of the 111 million households in the United States, approximately 8 million use heating oil as their main heating fuel, according to the Energy Communications Council.2 Heating homes is the primary use for heating oil, making the demand highly seasonal.

Many heating systems have electrical power switches & emergency off switches for heating equipment. Electrical switches turn off electric power that operates any type of heating system: furnace, boiler, steam boiler, heat pump, electric heat.

Many times an emergency off switch for the building heating system should be found outside of the basement or other boiler or furnace room location and accessible so that an occupant can, in an emergency, turn off heat without having to enter a possibly smoky or dangerous area.

Smart thermostats have been developed to control heating and cooling systems but these can be expensive to retrofit into existing older heating and cooling system if they can be retrofit at all.

There remains room for improvement in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This proposed device is a furnace control unit that can be used with an electronic on/off switch.

The current invention is a furnace control unit 1 that is affixed to a electronic on/off switch 75 that controls a heating unit. This furnace control unit 1 will turn the electronic switch 75 from the on position to the off position based on certain criteria which have been programmed into it giving it a programmable control like a smart thermostat to older heating and cooling systems.

The furnace control unit has a programmable processing unit, display unit, power source, input buttons, a switch flipping means. It is attached next to the electronic on/off switch that control a heating source. It would have a thermostat to detect the temperature. The unit would be programmed to turn the switch on or off depending on input criteria such date, as time of day and temperature. This will allow the user to maximize their energy usages.

The unit may or may not contain RFID or other similar mechanism to communicate with smart phones, computers and other multimedia devices to deliver and receive data allowing the user remote access to program the unit or get information from the unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Without restricting the full scope of this invention, the preferred form of this invention is illustrated in the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a front view of the unit;

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the unit;

FIG. 3 shows a front perspective view of the unit;

FIG. 4 shows a cross cut view showing the slots;

FIG. 5 displays a simple schematic of the unit; and

FIG. 6 shows the logic flow of the unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

There are a number of significant design features and improvements incorporated within the invention.

The current invention is a furnace control unit 1 that is affixed to a electronic on/off switch 75 that controls a heating unit. This furnace control unit 1 will turn the electronic switch 75 from the on position to the off position based on certain criteria which have been programmed into it with the switch being turned on and off per pre-set time, date and a backup temperature gauge to prevent problems due to unforseen temperature drops.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, the unit 1 consists of a rectangular flat base 10 with a round top. It has a control box 15 which houses the processing unit 630, a temperature reading device like a thermostat 640 and the switch flipping means 650. The control box 15 may also have the display 18 and buttons that can be used to program the processing unit 630. The processing unit 630 will have access to memory in which to store the program and data inputted by the user.

The base 10 will be connected to the switch 75 through a connection means. In the preferred embodiment it would be screws which align to the screw sockets of the switch 75.

The switch flipping means 650 would consist of a movement means such as a two way motor the is connected to a switch plate 90 through a switch plate connector 92. The switch plate connector 92 is in an “S” shape with two flat tabs at each end where the tabs run perpendicular to the base 10. One tab is connected to the motor while the other tab is connected to the switch plate 90 as shown in FIG. 2. It can be placed in a slot in the switch plate 90 or attached with glue or be an extension of the switch plate 90.

The switch plate 90 is flat and fits into switch plate connector slots 93 that run parallel to base 10 as shown in FIG. 4. This allows it to move up and down freely. The switch plate 90 has a switch opening 95 which is rectangular with rounded edges. The switch opening 95 is just large enough in height to fit on both sides of the switch 75 so that when moving the switch plate 90 up and down you move the switch 75 on and off. The unit 1 will move the switch plate 90 based on its programmed criteria which can include the day and time and the temperature.

FIG. 1 shows the display 18 and input buttons. At the top edge of the base 10 is the display unit 18. The display unit 18 in the preferred embodiment is an LED display, but any other digital display like OLED or LCD can be used. It displays a numeric timer that displays when the time and temperature as well as programming information. There are input buttons below the display unit 18. In the preferred embodiment there are seven input buttons that are slightly raised above the surface. The buttons on the front are day 505 to set the day, hour 510 to set the hour and minute 520 to set the minutes. There is a enter button 530 and a program button 535 which is used to program the unit 1. There is an on button 540 and an off button 545 to turn the unit 1 on and off. The buttons in the preferred embodiment are soft plastic or rubber over pressure keys.

The power source in the preferred embodiment would be one or more batteries. The batteries 620 are held in a battery compartment 600. This battery 620 is used to power the display unit 18 and a computer processor 630 as well as the switch flipping means 650 and a wireless connection device 700 if there is one.

FIG. 5 displays a simple schematic of the device. This battery 620 is connected to the display unit 18 and a computer processor 630 as well as to a motor or switch moving means 635. The computer processor 630 receives input from the input buttons 510, 520, 530, 540, 550. The unit 1 may also have a wireless communication means 700 which is connected to the computer processor 630.

FIG. 6 shows a sample flowchart of the unit 1. The clock 200 will provide input to the system as to the date and time. The unit 1 is set on 201. It will then check to see if the schedule is on 202. If yes it will check to see if the day is in the schedule 203, if no it is set to off and check the schedule again. If it is the day in the schedule it will check to see if it is the hour in the schedule 204, if no it is set to off and check the schedule again. If it is the hour in the schedule 204 it will check to see if it is the minute in the schedule 205, if yes it will check the temperature 210 to see if the temperature is less than the set temperature if no it is set to off and check the schedule again. If it is the temperature is less than the set temperature it will set the switch to on 201 turning on the heat, if not it will set the switch to off 215 turning off the heating device and check the schedule again.

The unit 1 may or may not have a wireless connection device, RFID or other similar mechanism to communicate with smart phones, computers and other multimedia devices to deliver and receive data such as programming input or the ability to turn the heating source on or off. This wireless connection device may work with Bluetooth, RFID or any other wireless means.

In an alternative embodiment, the unit 1 does not have input buttons or a display unit. If would have only an on and off button. This is shown in FIG. 2. It would be controlled wirelessly through a wireless device such as a RFID or other similar mechanism to communicate with a remote device such as a smart phones, computers and other multimedia devices to deliver and receive data allowing the user remote access to program the unit or get information from the unit. The remote device would serve as the display unit and input buttons.

The heating means can be an oil or gas furnace but it also can be a heating element or even a space heater. The unit 1 will work with all types of heating devices that can be connected to an off/on switch.

As to a further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of the present invention, the same should be apparent from the above description. Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided.

With respect to the above description, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur by those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention. 

I claim:
 1. A device comprising; a base which has a processing unit, a temperature reading device and a switch flipping means.
 2. A device according to claim 1 further comprising having the switch flipping means flip a switch based on a programmed criteria.
 3. A device according to claim 1 further comprising where the switch turns a heating source on and off.
 4. A device according to claim 2 further comprising where the criteria is a pre-set time, date and temperature.
 5. A device according to claim 1 further comprising having a display connected to the processing unit.
 6. A device according to claim 1 further comprising having a plurality of input buttons connected to the processing unit.
 7. A device according to claim 1 further comprising having an off and on button connected to the processing unit that are used to turn the device on and off
 8. A device according to claim 6 further comprising using the input buttons to program the processing unit.
 9. A device according to claim 1 where the base is attached to a switch through a connection means.
 10. A device according to claim 1 where the base has a control box that houses the processing unit, temperature reading device and the switch flipping means.
 11. A device according to claim 1 where the switch flipping means consists of a movement means and a switch plate.
 12. A device according to claim 11 where the movement means is a two way motor.
 13. A device according to claim 11 where the switch plate has a plate opening that fits on the top and bottom side of the switch.
 14. A device according to claim 11 where a the switch plate connector connects the switch plate to the movement means.
 15. A device according to claim 15 where the switch plate connector is in an “S” shape with two flat tabs at each end where the tabs run perpendicular to the base with one tab connected to the motor and the other tab is connected to the switch plate.
 16. A device according to claim 11 where a the switch plate fits into two slots in the base.
 17. A device according to claim 11 further comprising having a power source.
 18. A device according to claim 17 further comprising having said power be a battery.
 19. A device according to claim 2 further comprising having the processing unit check to see if criteria has been set, if yes it will check to see if the day is in the schedule, if not it is set to off and check the schedule again, if the day in the schedule it will check to see if it is the hour in the schedule, if no it is set to off and check the schedule again, if it is the hour in the schedule it will check to see if it is the minute in the schedule, if it is it will check the temperature to see if the temperature is less than the set temperature if not it is set to off and check the schedule again, if it is the temperature is less than the set temperature it will set the switch to on turning on the heat, if not it will set the switch to off turning off the heating device and check the schedule again.
 20. A method to control a heating unit using the device in claim
 19. 